Pencil sharpener



Aug. 17, 1954 HECHTL 2,686,496

PENCIL SHARPENER Filed Fe .b. 26, 1953 I N VEN TOR a? Max Hechfl Hwy 5. l. W 1 flfiorney Patented Aug. 17, 1954 1 Claim. 1

The present invention relates to improvements in sharpeners for pencils and the like and, more specifically to a new and improved universal pencil sharpener which will sharpen pencils and the like more perfectly than the hitherto used sharpeners. The latter ordinarily consist of a block which has a conical bore extended thereinto and being provided with a longitudinal slot parallel to the longitudinal axis of said bore and extending from th inner side of the bore to the outer side of the block and of a cutting blade alongside said slot. This construction has the disadvantage that a personattempting to attain therewith a sharply pointed pencil usually breaks the lead of the pencil, so that a sharp point has to be attained by other sharpening means.

One object of the present invention is the provision of a device of the character described which combines in one simple and handy unit a pencil sharpener as described hereinbefore, a devic for sharply pointing a pencil after it has been pre-sharpened by means of said sharpener, and a brushing device for dusting the lead dust off freshly sharpened pencils.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a device of the character described which permits removing from a pencil a portion of the wood encasing the lead without weakening or damaging the lead portion from which the wood has been removed, so that the user of my new and improved device can extend the lead of a pencil at any distance beyond the wood, and thereafter can sharpen the end of the lead to any desired angle, shape, or point formation.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of a device of the character described which is compact, light in weight, of a small size, of a pleasing outer appearance, easy to manipulate, simple in construction, and inexpensive to manufacture, but which is also sturdy, durable, and well-adapted for the purpose for which it is intended.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claim, it being understood that changes may be made in the construction and arrangements of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

In the accompanying drawing a preferred form of the invention has been shown.

Figure 1 is a plan view of a preferred embodiment of my invention; and

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PENCIL SHARPENER Max Hechtl, Whitestone, N. Y.

Application February 26, 1953, Serial No. 338,999

2 Fig. 2 is a side view thereof. Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

In the drawing the numeral i denotes a cupshaped member of plastic material or the like,

which preferably has a raised hub portion 2 extending from the center section at the inner side of its bottom portion, and which has a cir- 'cular, preferably taper wall portion whose inner sid is provided with a layer 3 of rough material, such as sand paper or granular material pasted thereon, or the like. The outer side of the member i may be either smooth or knurled, or the like. The member I also can be made of ceramics with a rough inner side. A pencil sharpener block t is either secured to the outer side of the member I by means of plastic welding, gluing or the like, or it is made as a unit with the member I. A conical bore 5 is extended into the block 3, and the latter has a slot i which is parallel to the longitudinal axis of said bore and extending from the inner side of the bore to the outer side of the block 4. A cutting blade I0 is removably secured to the block t alongside the slot 1 preferably by means of a screw H, or the like. I prefer to have a corner portion of the blade l0 cut ofi to form a recess I2 adjacent a portion of the slot '5 at the pointed end of the bore 5, in such a manner that a portion of the lead M of a pencil is can be extended therethrough at any desired length after the wood encasing the lead has been removed therefrom. Blades of different width and with differently shaped recesses (if) can be exchanged with each other for permitting the use of pencils with leads of different thicknesses in the manner described above.

A substantially Z-shaped member I! with one of its ends rotatably attached to the hub portion 2 by means of a screw 29 or the like, and the other end of the member IT is slidable on the outer rim of the member i and is provided with a longitudinal aperture 2 I. A piece 22 of felt or of any other suitable soft material preferably is secured to the member H.

After a portion of the Wood has been removed from a pencil E5 in the manner described above and indicated by dash-and-dotted lines in the center portion of Fig. 2, the free lead portion M is extended through the apertur 2i as is indicated by dash-and-dotted lines in the lower portion of Fig. 2. Then the member I? is being rotated, and thereby the lead is being ground on the rough surface or layer 3 to attain a pointed end portion of any desired angle, shape, and sharpness. Thereafter the pencil is removed from 3 the member 11 and its freshly sharpened end is slid along the piece 22 for the purpose of brushing oif the lead dust adhering thereto after the sharpening.

An eyelet 22 preferably is secured to the member l for facilitating the hanging of the device on a nail or the like while it is not in use.

Since certain changes may be made in the above article and different embodiments of the intvention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which as a matter of language might be said to fall therebetween.

Having thus fully described my said invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A pencil sharpener comprising a cup-shaped member having a bottom portion and a circular wall portion, a block attached to said member having a conical bore extended thereinto and being provided with a longitudinal slot parallel to the longitudinal axis of said bore and extending from the inner side of the bore to the outer side of the block, a blade removably attached to said block alongside said slot having a recessed portion adjacent the pointed end of the conical bore of the said block and having a cutting edge extending from said recessed portion to that portion of the blade which is adjacent the wide terminal of said conical bore, a Z-shaped member having a pair of parallel end portions and an in- 4 termediate portion angularly disposed to the end portions and the first of said end portions being rotatably secured to the center of the inner side of the bottom portion of said cup-shaped member while the second end portion is slidable on the rim of said cup-shaped member and provided with an oblong aperture, a piece of soft material secured to the intermediate portion of said Z-shaped member, and a layer of rough material provided at the inner side of the wall portion of said cup-shaped member, said block and said blade being adapted for removing from a pencil a portion of the wood encasing the lead so that a portion of the lead without having been pointed by the cutting edge of said blade extends through that end of the slot in said block which is adjacent the recessed portion of said blade, said angular member being adapted for having the aforementioned lead portion of the pencil extended through said aperture and for guiding the same while it is being slid annularly along said layer of rough material, for pointing and sharpening the end of the lead, and said piece of soft material being adapted for brushing the lead dust off the lead after it has been sharpened as aforesaid by sliding the pointed end of the lead along the piece of soft material.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 492,336 Price Feb. 21, 1893 2,242,458 Dessonnaz May 20, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 614,073 Great Britain Dec. 9, 1948 

